We are very happy to announce that registration for the Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition (ARIAC) 2018 is now open. Qualifiers will begin in early March 2018 while the final competition will be held in May 2018.

ARIAC is a simulation-based competition designed to promote agility in industrial robot systems by utilizing the latest advances in artificial intelligence and robot planning. The goal is to enable industrial robots on the shop floors to be more productive, more autonomous, and more responsive to the needs of shop floor workers. Because the competition will be held virtually, there is no need to travel to compete. The competition will use the Gazebo simulation tool.

Year 1 of the competition focused on pick-and-place kit assembly operations. Year 2 will focus on order fulfillment. There will also be a greater emphasis on perception.

While autonomously completing order fulfillment tasks, teams will be presented with various agility challenges based on input from industry representatives. In Year 1, these challenges included failing suction grippers, notification of faulty parts, and reception of high-priority orders that would prompt teams to decide whether or not to reuse existing in-progress orders. Year 2 will include these challenges along with others.

Winners this year will be determined through automated metrics as well as a panel of three judges comprised of representatives from Amazon, Open Robotics, and NIST. Unlike last year, ARIAC 2018 will be a prize competition, with first place receiving $10K, second place receiving $5K and third place receiving $2.5K. There will also be travel support for a representative from the winning teams to present at an upcoming workshop.

We’re happy to announce that dates are set for the 2018 Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition (ARIAC):

ARIAC Code Available to Registrants: Monday, February 19th
Qualifier 1 Available: Monday, March 5th (Teams will have two weeks to complete Qualifier 1)
Qualifier 2 Available: Monday, April 2nd (Teams will have two weeks to complete Qualifier 2)
ARIAC Finals: May 11th – May 17th

We’re expecting many teams to want to participate this year, especially given the prize purse. As a result we’re capping the number of registrations that will be accepted. If you are interested in participating, register soon!